The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Tamar Candy Cane.
The new Impatiens is a product of a planned breeding program Inventor in Maasland, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Impatiens cultivars with uniform plant habit and attractive flower and foliage colors.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1997 of the Inventor""s proprietary Impatiens hawkeri selection code number 944106, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent, with the Inventor""s proprietary Impatiens hawkeri selection code number 942606, not patented, as the female, or seed parent. The cultivar Tamar Candy Cane was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Maasland, The Netherlands in 1997.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Maasland, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Tamar Candy Canexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Tamar Candy Canexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Impatiens cultivar:
1. Light pink and red bi-colored flowers.
2. Freely flowering habit with flowers positioned above or beyond the foliage.
3. Upright, somewhat outwardly spreading, rounded, uniform and compact plant habit.
4. Freely branching growth habit.
5. Dark green leaves.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ from plants of the parent selections in leaf and flower color.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Maasland, The Netherlands, plants of the new Impatiens differ from plants of the cultivar Pago Pago, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,143, in flower color and in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens flower earlier than plants of the cultivar Pago Pago.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens have larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Pago Pago.